


What It Means To Be The Mastermind

by xxxbookaholic



Series: The Line Between Past And Present (Mastermind Shuichi Universe) [1]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mastermind Saihara Shuichi, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), but he is specifically referenced for a long time, kokichi is only referenced
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27246982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxxbookaholic/pseuds/xxxbookaholic
Summary: It was funny in a twisted way, the fact that the only person the season’s “oh so cautious” antagonist trusted was the mastermind himself.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi & Saihara Shuichi
Series: The Line Between Past And Present (Mastermind Shuichi Universe) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998058
Comments: 1
Kudos: 123





	What It Means To Be The Mastermind

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to Unhealthy Obsession by Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra while I wrote this. Echo by Crusher-P also fits this fic fairly well!

Shuichi was five seconds away from shoving Kokichi Ouma into a hydraulic press himself.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to know everything; he was supposed to watch through the monitors and act accordingly; find evidence to prove his own (obviously correct) claims, convince everybody in the class trial, play hero.

His Hangar monitor getting inked black, leaving him with nothing but silence and a burning fury, was not on script.

He clicked through his screens but couldn’t find anything that would tell him what was going on.

Antagonists were supposed to be the people most closely monitored; they were tricky, a mix between knowing way too much and knowing too little. They had to be carefully analyzed and drawn off path, making sure none of them got too close to the truth.

Each of them had to be just out of reach of the mastermind, not just a few steps away from drawing them out.

Kokichi had been different since the beginning. Shuichi had seen it through his monitors; the hanging effigy, the blueprints, the whiteboard that he couldn’t help but scoff at whenever he saw it. _“Trustworthy”_ it had said, the words scrawled messily under a picture of Shuichi.

It was funny in a twisted way, the fact that the only person the season’s “oh so cautious” antagonist trusted was the mastermind himself.

The beginning wasn’t just the beginning of the killing game season; the beginning started in elementary school, before Kokichi even knew about Danganronpa. They’d been in the same class every school year, so it was only natural that they’d talked a few times.

Kokichi was wary back then, isolating himself from his peers in rather clever ways and constantly looking around, as if he expected somebody to be stalking him at any moment. Shuichi had thought he was interesting, so of course he’d forced his way into his life.

Pretty soon, Kokichi became his only friend(?). They became Danganronpa fans together, going to cons in matching cosplays and watching each episode the second it aired, never delaying for a moment.

Kokichi’s caution had never changed, but his demeanor had. The way he changed between scared little boy to a fan just as obsessed as Shuichi never failed to amaze him; he’d even been the one to suggest auditioning for the fifty-third season together.

When their acceptance letters came, Shuichi had feigned sadness over them playing opposing roles, because Kokichi had seemed upset, too. In reality, though, all Shuichi could feel was mind-numbing excitement. Someone like Shuichi facing off against someone like Kokichi would draw a whole lot of new fans in. That was what he had thought at the time.

Now, though, he was seriously wishing Kokichi had gotten a more minor role; a simple survivor, a victim, a predictable blackened. Anything but the intelligent, quick-footed antagonist.

Shuichi banged his fist on his desk, finally giving up on force-powering on the cameras. He pulled the drawer beside him open, sifting through messy and half-torn papers to find the script.

Nowhere on it did it say anything about Kokichi dying. Kaito had been supposed to be killed episodes ago; keeping him out late exercising had been Shuichi’s first mistake in this mess of a season.

Kokichi hadn’t been supposed to die at all, though. He was supposed to survive until the last trial, where he’d sacrifice himself to save everyone else.

Shuichi flipped through the script pages, crossing out anything that didn’t make sense with the way the current season was going, looking up only momentarily to check the fan’s responses on forums. They were eating it all up, despite the flaws and miscalculations.

_This is fine,_ Shuichi thought to himself, looking over his newly written script once more before shoving it back into the drawer, not even bothering to close it. All he had to do was make some adjustments and then everything was back on schedule.

He’d still survive, despair would still win, the season would still go on. All Shuichi needed was patience.

A light flashed in the corner of his eye and he looked back up to see the monitors powered on again, showing a bloodied hydraulic press and nobody else in sight. There was an exisal missing and a few wires on the hydraulic press cut, but otherwise, the case seemed like it would be a piece of cake.

Shuichi stood up, finally slamming the drawer closed and taking his leave, making his way up the ramp and away from the room designed just for him.

All he needed was patience. Everything would be fine if he just stayed on script.

_Damn you, Ouma,_ he thought bitterly, tugging the rim of his hat over his eyes. He swore, if Kaito didn’t kill Kokichi, he’d do it himself.

He did it to Rantaro, he did it to Kaede, and he’d do it to whoever else got in his way.

That was what it meant to be the mastermind, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!  
> This was also originally written for school work (again, if you haven't seen my other 'originally for school' fics, i homeschool, so this is allowed). The prompt was to write something where you take the protagonist of one of your favorite anime (danganronpa is kind of an anime i guess) and write a short or flash fiction where you turn them into the antagonist. I've been meaning to write some mastermind shuichi, so i thought it was the perfect opportunity to do so.  
> If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment (and kudos). It keeps me writing! This will also be on my tumblr (xxxbookaholic). I'm thinking about making a more oumasai-centric sequel or prequel but who knows.  
> Have a nice rest of your day/night!


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